Friday, 11 August 2017

evelop pragmatic habits of geniuses

By Bayo Ogunmupe

Men and women of history who have been considered geniuses have been studied to determine how they became geniuses, their thinking processes, actions and behaviors. Most of these geniuses were found to be of average intelligence. Few of them were geniuses in the Albert Einstein mode. However, they have three behaviors in common. Fortunately, these behaviors can be developed. As you practice these habits, you too can become more intelligent and creative. Soon after mastering these behaviors, you will become a genius at creative problem solving.

Concentration is the first habit of geniuses. They have developed the ability to concentrate single-mindedly, 100 percent on one thing to the exclusion of all distractions. In psychology this is called concentrated mind power(CMP). This CMP seems to accompany all creative breakthroughs and accomplishments. Single minded concentration, also called single handling is essential to the achievement of important goals; the management of time, the completion of tasks and all creative work.

Unfortunately today, we are overwhelmed by an endless river of distractions. Thus, emails are constantly pinging with messages, the phones ringing and text messages are streaming in nonstop. Indeed, people in the workplace are continually interrupting and distracting you. For you to learn to concentrate single minded, you must create time, unbroken periods of time where you can work without distraction. Perhaps, the most important time management principle essential for creativity and concentration is for you to leave things off for a while.

Create zones of silence around yourself by disconnecting from all technology for a period of time each day. You require blocks of time, 30, 40 minutes ore one hour for your mind to settle down, like silt in a bucket of water. It is only then that you can get to the point where you can think with clarity and effectiveness. Two, open mindedness and flexibility in thinking is the second quality of genius. Geniuses see causal relationships, the big picture, they act childlike in examining every possible way of approaching a problem. Try looking at your work, yourself and your business as part of an organic system.

Instead of looking upon an event as a separate occasion, you look at all that might have led to the event and all that may come after. Avoid attachment; desist from falling in love with a particular solution to a problem. A factor that inhibits creative thinking is your becoming attached or married to an idea or solution that you have come up with. You then invest all your ego in selling the solution to someone else. Then, you consider yourself successful if you can persuade someone else to come around to your point of view; even if there is a clear possibility that your point of view is incorrect.

Like a Buddhist monk, stay detached from your idea by considering many other possibilities with an open mind. Remain flexible by avoiding the tendency to embrace the solution until you have exhausted all other possibilities. Be skeptical, begin with the assumption that your idea could be completely wrong. Three, geniuses are systematic, they use an ordered approach to solving problems. They first define the problem in writing. Then they ask questions such as How did this problem occur? Is this really a problem or an opportunity? As a teacher, I do know that in school we were taught to think mathematically to enable us adopt the skill of logical reasoning in solving future problems.

Even though we never learn algebra or geometry again after leaving school, the purpose of learning them is to teach us to work systematically from the beginning to the end of a problem- until we find the solution. This is a skill that you can then apply in all the areas of your life. It is the habit of geniuses to work their way systematically, approaching the solution to their problems step by step. But action is everything. When you practice the behaviors of geniuses, you soon begin to perform as a genius. When you behave like a genius, you become one.

Bayo Ogunmupe

About Me

Bayo Ogunmupe is a veteran Journalist, economist and literary critic. He was born in Osun state, Nigeria. He was educated at the international School, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria, the University of Ibadan and the University of Geneva, Switzerland, the London School of Economics, UK.
He was Production Editor, Nigerian Tribune, Ibadan, and Senior Sub-Editor at Daily Times Newspaper in Lagos. Ogunmupe was Associate Editor of Newswatch Magazine, He was a recipient of the Nigerian Media Merit Awards in 1993 and the Ladi Lawal Journalist of the year, 2010. He is columnist for the Guardian newspaper since 1993. He is the author of Nigerian Politics in the Age of Yar'Adua. Chief Ogunmupe is available for lectures, seminars and leadership workshops or conferences in any part of the world. He can be reached at ogunmupeb@yahoo.com